Talks under way on rescheduling of cancelled Haydock fixture

Discussions are being held over the rescheduling of the second Sky Bet Sunday Series fixture after it was called off because of a waterlogged track at Haydock.

The third fixture in the series, televised by ITV and which has total prize-money of £600,000, is due to be held at Sandown on August 22.

But there is a question mark over the middle leg of the series at Haydock. The track's clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright said last night: "I don't know what's going to happen regarding rescheduling the meeting yet, but it's being discussed and we will have to wait and see."

The series offers £200,000 in bonuses to jockeys and owners for certain achievements but they are tied across the three meetings.

Any owner of a horse who wins at each fixture of the series will be entitled to a £100,000 bonus, with the money split in the case of multiple winners.

A further £100,000 will also be offered to any jockey who rides seven winners over the three racedays, a prize targeted by Ben Curtis after two winners at the opening fixture at Musselburgh.

Heavier overnight rain than expected forced Haydock to call off their fixture on Sunday morning.

Tellwright said: "We didn't think there would be this much rain. We knew we were going to get a lot, but it's exceeded that. It's just gone beyond the sensible limit of what the track can take.

"We reached heavy yesterday afternoon but looking at the forecast then we were confident we could manage it. However, that confidence has looked misplaced in the light of what has happened overnight."

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